Citizen Kane Analysis

1). Orson Wells was an American film director, writer, actor and producer, who worked in film, theatre, television and radio. He was also the star and the director of Citizen Kane. Citizen Kane is considered one of the greatest films ever made.

~ William Randolph Hearst was an American newspaper magnate and leading newspaper publisher. His life was a source of inspiration for the lead character in Citizen Kane. The release of the film caused a lot of controversy, because Hearst didn’t want the movie released however, he made some progress with pulling all his resources and some theatres delayed the release of the film (www.filmsite.org/citi.html).

~ Gregg Toland was an American cinematographer noted for his innovative use of lighting and techniques such as deep focus. His claim to fame was the visual contributions he made to the film including camera placement, and lighting effects.

2a). Deep focus: is photographic and cinematographic technique incorporating a large depth of field, covering everything in the scene. The scene where young Kane’s mother was signing the papers for the oil found and so Charles new guardian Mr. Thatcher. Everything in the scene including the hat in the foreground and young Kane in the distance is in sharp focus.

b). The sound montage is used extensively with the flashback scenes to denote the interval of time within related scenes. When Kane and his wife is arguing in a tent surrounded by hundreds of Kane’s guests, is a perfect example of the perfect use of sound (citizen Kane 1941).

c). Low angle shots: are shots in which the camera looks up at the action, to acquire meaning through a process of association becoming identified with a specific character or situation that it is repeatedly used to film. A great scene for example is when Kane was talking with his friend Leland after his defeat at the polls (Belton pg.49). High angle shots: are shots where...

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CitizenKaneCitizenKane (1941) by Orson Welles released on 5th September 1941. 1 The film which falls under the genre of drama &amp; mystery didn’t make too much of an impact straight away but as film moved on into the future CitizenKane became one of the critics best loved movies because of it cinematography, film techniques, lightning, music, editing, transitions, etc. I will be analyzing a number of key scenes in CitizenKane with relation to the cinematography and other techniques above.
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Climax - Kane chooses to stay with Susan and sends his wife away while daring Gettys to expose him by threatening impotently...

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One of the greatest movies of all time was Orson Welles's CitizenKane. Almost all of the movies of the time were told chronologically and had a beginning, middle, and an end. CitizenKane was the first movie to tell the audience the end of the movie in the beginning. The movie was mostly told in flashbacks.
Unlike traditional Hollywood, CitizenKane combines non-linear and composite storytelling from multiple points of view, including the famous opening newsreels, interviews, and flashbacks, to present the main character (Kstrykers Blog). Traditional Hollywood has very static mise-en-scene with actors and objects mostly in the center of the frame and never out of focus. Objects, characters and props were usually evenly distributed throughout the scene. The lighting was usually three point and split the...

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Along with its renowned outstanding cinematic achievements, what ultimately exalted CitizenKane to such incredible heights was the character of Charles Foster Kane. In despite of reporters attempts to unveil the genuine Kane. Kane claimed the name of an enigma. The depth of Kane’s loneliness and isolation concludes in a vignette that will continue to impress generations of audiences .
A series of rough chronological flashbacks tells the life story of Charles Foster Kane. The first flashback introduces Kane to Thatcher. Kane’s mother Mary runs a lodging house in rural Colorado. To compensate a payment for room and board, one of her tenants gives her stock to what she believes is a worthless mine, but in-turn is a working gold mine. She unexpectedly strikes it rich, she decides it would be better off to send Charles away at eight years old, to be raised by her banker, Thatcher. Naturally, Charles is infuriated and strikes Thatcher with the sled he’s been happily riding when Thatcher comes to take him away. Kane never sees his mother again. The abrupt separation keeps keeps Kane from growing past the needy and aggressive behaviors of a pre-adolescent. The relationship between Kane and Thatcher remained cold. In their years together Kane moves on to writing questionable...

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The film begins with two title cards, one of Orson Welles and the other CitizenKane, both have an absence of music. The camera cranes up a fence with the sign No Trespassing hanging off. This sign foreshadows what is to come later in the story. The sign and fence symbolise Kane himself, and as the camera shifts beyond the audience are beginning to look inside of the man Charles Foster Kane. To that extent, the mansion is a metaphor of Kane and the fence is the wall he places around himself to block out others.
The music begins, a long slow song that adds mystery and anticipation within the audience. The music is a very important part of the opening scene and is written by Bernard Herrmann. It sets the mood for the whole film and begins to develop a character. The sound in the opening scene is eerie and haunting, complementing the setting of Kane’s old dark mansion. Herrmann created a leitmotif (leading music) that symbolized Kane’s power; this motif is heard in the very opening of the scene. The motif is...

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Deep focus means that everything is in the frame, even the background, in focus at the same time, as opposed to having only the people and things in the foreground in focus. The deep focus technique requires the cinematographer to combine lighting, composition, and type of camera lens to produce the wanted effect. With deep focus, a filmmaker can showcase overlapping actions. A good example of this comes early in the film, when Kane is only a small boy who is about to be...

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Mise-en-scene, cinematography and editing are visual elements in film that create meaning in the shots/sequences of the film. Ultimately it is these factors that can establish narrative agents and their relations, drive the narrative and place the view in a certain point of view of the narrative. Orson Welle’s 1941 film, CitizenKane, is considered significant for its technical innovations with its use of deep focus lenses, low angles, high contrast lighting, long takes and dissolves. In my essay I will be analyzing the sequence depicting Kane’s “Declaration of Principles.” I will show how the elements of mise-en-scene, the cinematography and editing choices help to visually depict Kane as a powerful subject, establish narrative conflict and create perspective within the sequence.
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